Volume 59, Issue 332, August 2023

Socio-economic factors influencing utilization of electronic media in cassava production in Akamkpa LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria

Nsa Akiba Ayi^1♦, Celestine Oyui Itanim¹, Ukwapu Chrisanthus Undiandeye²

¹Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Cross River University of Technology, Calabar, Nigeria
²Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, University of Calabar, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Cross River University of Technology, Calabar, Nigeria
ORCID: 0000-0001-6177-290X

ABSTRACT

The study analyzed the socio-economic factors influencing utilization of electronic media in cassava production in Akamkpa LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria. The study sampled 150 cassava farmers and a set of questionnaires was administered to them. Data obtained were analyzed using means, percentages, frequencies and multinomial regression. The result of the analysis of the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents revealed that 32.6 percent of the respondents were in the age range of 30-39 years, 73.6% of them were male and 65.3% were single. Educational status, farm size and household size have a significant influence on the utilization of electronic media by cassava farmers in the study area. Lack of training on ICT skills (85.4%), inaccessibility of extension workers/facilitators (69.4%), and language barrier (71.5%) were the three most rated hindrances in utilizing electronic media in cassava production in the area. Socio-economic factors are critical in the utilization of electronic media channels in cassava production in the area. Therefore, intermittent training should be organized in order to foster understanding and thus, utilization of electronic media to boost cassava production in the study area.

Keywords: Electronic media utilization in cassava production

Discovery, 2023, 59, e103d1309

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Published: August 2023